After Christmas Series

“When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.” [1]

We plan for Christmas. We shop, we decorate, we enjoy the music, the message, and the warmth of the season, but Christmas doesn't last long. It's like diving from a steep cliff; for a moment after jumping you soar suspended in the sky. No doubt it's an exhilarating feeling, but it doesn't last—it can’t last. After the songs, the gifts, and time with loved ones, will we really go back to our lives as they were before the celebration? Will we actually return to things as they were before Christmas? Or has Christmas burned a new fire and a new hope into our souls that causes us to want our lives to be different, to be better?

Reviewing the biblical account of Mary and Joseph we witness how Christmas can be made practical. After the angels had returned to Heaven and after the shepherds had left, Joseph and Mary faced the responsibility and the privilege of rearing a son. In responding to the new demands they faced, Mary and Joseph demonstrate for us that we must carry the lessons of Christmas into our homes. More is learned about God in the home than any other place. It is not in Sunday School, or in worship services, or in Bible studies, but in the home that we learn about God. Through what we teach our children, by our attitudes and actions, and by the way we live at home, our families and our friends will learn about God and how important, or unimportant, He is to us. What will you teach your children and grandchildren about God in the coming year?

In addition to our homes, we must realise that we either carry Christmas into the workplace or we demonstrate that all we have done is observe another fête. We know that Joseph was a carpenter. His trade involved hard work and not enough pay. It seems quite likely that Joseph's work took on new significance after the birth of Jesus. One has to believe that Joseph's hammer was not as heavy and his saw cut a bit easier after Christmas. What I mean is that Joseph knew he was God's servant and his work was sacred. Likewise, Mary had clothes to wash and meals to prepare, in addition to nurturing her child. There was a new joy in these tasks after Jesus' birth. Like Joseph, we must believe that Mary understood that through her work, she was offering service to God. What would be done henceforth was not routine, but sacred.

As you look toward a new year, I hope you will ask how you can serve God through your work, whether it is for pay or as a volunteer? If Christmas is to impact our lives in the days and months of the coming year, we must carry the meaning of Christmas into the arena of our faith. Mary and Joseph would need to remember Bethlehem often because there would be moments in their lives when their faith would be sorely tested. They would have to flee for their lives to the strange land of Egypt. Scripture appears to suggest that Joseph died at some point and Mary was left alone with the tremendous responsibility of bringing up their children. When she witnessed her son hanging on the cross, she undoubtedly remembered Bethlehem. And as she remembered that strange night, we must believe that she understood that God was at work in the world. She did not know how God worked, but she knew that God did work. Mary lived by faith, confident that the God who had appointed her to serve as the mother of His Son would always be with her.

Christmas reveals that God is always where we are; He is always with us. This knowledge is especially important to the one who walks in the way of the Son of God. We may not always see or feel His presence, we may not always understand how He is working out His will in our lives and through our lives, but as we experience Christmas, we may be confident that He is always near. We are not forgotten and we are not alone—and we need that assurance, especially in this day. Christmas shows us that we can go on regardless of the difficulties we face as long as we keep our eyes on the Son of God Who has come to dwell with us. We are confident that He knows the way because He is the Way.

OBEDIENT TO THE LAW OF THE LORD — “When [Mary and Joseph] had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth” [LUKE 2:39]. Jesus was Jewish; He was born into a family of observant Jews. They were not fanatical, but they were careful to honour God through making every effort to fulfil the Law. This was the home into which Jesus was born; He was raised in an environment in which His parents honoured the words of Moses and in which they knew what the prophets had written.